Moving On
I'm happy to say that I believe I have put my recent distress and disappointment behind me and moved on. Stiff upper lip and all that. I couldn't afford to be dead forever. It wasn't doing my career a bit of good. I have left my original post (which was titled "Final Message From Beyond The Grave",) untouched here for posterity. I think it's important to remember where you've been and what you did while you were there. That's how we learn and grow as Human beings.
***
After careful consideration it is with great regret that I have to say goodbye to you all here at Goodreads. But before I go I will do you all the courtesy of explaining why.
I am a man of principles. I believe in a code of ethics. I'm a lover of truth, justice and fair play, and as such, I don't belong here. This site has made it very clear to me that they are in full support of people who are posting nothing but relentless, undiluted, hate-motivated lies about my book. People that have not even read my book, as is obvious to me, and will be equally obvious to anyone else who has and indeed will read it too.
Apparently, this is the Goodreads policy: You can say anything you like on here, even if it's a lie, even if you haven't actually read the book in question. And there's nothing the victims of those lies can do about it. This site is adamant that it will not lift a finger to defend or protect us authors against such injustices and that truly sickens me. What kind of a world are we living in now when things like this are allowed to carry on unchecked until they spiral dangerously out of control?
If people were out on the streets saying these things about me they would be in jail now, but they're not out on the streets, they're sitting at home, hiding behind false identities with looks of smug satisfaction on their faces. They are thoroughly enjoying the pain and inconvenience they've caused me. All the time I have to waste defending myself against them gives them a buzz. They are as subtle as a blunderbuss. As obvious as a severe case of acne. I imagine them as fat, ugly people who have no friends and no job who sit around the house all day bored to tears and looking for something they can get a cheap thrill out of, and there's nothing they enjoy more than somebody else's misery, especially if they are the cause of it.
Goodreads are clearly not on my side. And I don't want to be associated with any site that has such a friendly, welcoming, 100% tolerance policy towards people who want to do nothing but destroy people they are jealous of or have developed some inexplicable personal grudge against.
In the last couple of days my chief hater has somehow managed to gather 9 "likes" for his / her much-rewritten message of hate and thus jumped right to the top of the most liked reviews list, which of course was said person's direct intention. I'm not sure if any of those people "liking" are real or it's just the same hater wearing 9 different disguises, but if any real people are foolish enough to believe a "review" that in essence tell you my book is the most diabolical thing ever to be put into print in the history of the world....well my book is not really aimed at such people anyway. I don't believe people THAT foolish even read books - do you?
This (these?) hater(s) really have shot themselves in the foot if you ask me. No normal person who simply didn't like a book says the kind of things they say in a book review. Why? Because it's really not that important to them. You pays your money and you takes your chance. If the book isn't to your liking you put it down and pick up another one that might be. You don't make it your top priority in life to destroy the author's reputation, do you? If these people were of a mind to they could probably make Mother Theresa and Gandhi sound like Hitler and Pol Pot. In kicking up such a stink, causing such a controversy, surely all they've done is attract people to my book? - Make people who had no intention of reading it before want to find out the truth for themselves? That's what curious, intelligent, open-minded people do. Or at least I've always believed so.
I'm more than happy to admit now that pages 29-32 of my book (which are the 4 pages the haters keep rubbing your noses in on here,) are largely superfluous and off-putting, that I should have been more brutal in my self-editing and I should have allowed somebody to talk me into compromising my message, buy hey! I didn't, and it's too late for me to do anything about it now.
If you find the 2nd piece in my book, "Mocha Chocolata Ya-Ya (with a Certain Girl)", difficult to contend with at this juncture....and I'm sure a lot of you will....all you have to do is skip it. That whole piece is only EIGHT PAGES LONG. Don't let it spoil your enjoyment of what I still believe is a great book. There is nothing remotely like it in my entire canon. It's unique, and it serves a unique purpose that will be revealed if you stick around long enough.
As far as this site is concerned, I'm dead now. I'm not coming back. The haters can take over, wave their flags triumphantly, pull the wool over your eyes if they can, but I will not be here to witness it. I'll be off grid somewhere, living my life and thinking some very pleasant thoughts.
I discovered a few days ago that Sylvia Plath, the American poet who took her own life in 1963, has over 15,000 followers on Goodreads. God willing, perhaps one day I will too.
As always, I wish all you genuine book lovers well. I am not letting the haters win here. I am simply walking away from the battlefield because I have lost all respect for and interest in an enemy who is not worthy of me.
Goodbye!
***
After careful consideration it is with great regret that I have to say goodbye to you all here at Goodreads. But before I go I will do you all the courtesy of explaining why.
I am a man of principles. I believe in a code of ethics. I'm a lover of truth, justice and fair play, and as such, I don't belong here. This site has made it very clear to me that they are in full support of people who are posting nothing but relentless, undiluted, hate-motivated lies about my book. People that have not even read my book, as is obvious to me, and will be equally obvious to anyone else who has and indeed will read it too.
Apparently, this is the Goodreads policy: You can say anything you like on here, even if it's a lie, even if you haven't actually read the book in question. And there's nothing the victims of those lies can do about it. This site is adamant that it will not lift a finger to defend or protect us authors against such injustices and that truly sickens me. What kind of a world are we living in now when things like this are allowed to carry on unchecked until they spiral dangerously out of control?
If people were out on the streets saying these things about me they would be in jail now, but they're not out on the streets, they're sitting at home, hiding behind false identities with looks of smug satisfaction on their faces. They are thoroughly enjoying the pain and inconvenience they've caused me. All the time I have to waste defending myself against them gives them a buzz. They are as subtle as a blunderbuss. As obvious as a severe case of acne. I imagine them as fat, ugly people who have no friends and no job who sit around the house all day bored to tears and looking for something they can get a cheap thrill out of, and there's nothing they enjoy more than somebody else's misery, especially if they are the cause of it.
Goodreads are clearly not on my side. And I don't want to be associated with any site that has such a friendly, welcoming, 100% tolerance policy towards people who want to do nothing but destroy people they are jealous of or have developed some inexplicable personal grudge against.
In the last couple of days my chief hater has somehow managed to gather 9 "likes" for his / her much-rewritten message of hate and thus jumped right to the top of the most liked reviews list, which of course was said person's direct intention. I'm not sure if any of those people "liking" are real or it's just the same hater wearing 9 different disguises, but if any real people are foolish enough to believe a "review" that in essence tell you my book is the most diabolical thing ever to be put into print in the history of the world....well my book is not really aimed at such people anyway. I don't believe people THAT foolish even read books - do you?
This (these?) hater(s) really have shot themselves in the foot if you ask me. No normal person who simply didn't like a book says the kind of things they say in a book review. Why? Because it's really not that important to them. You pays your money and you takes your chance. If the book isn't to your liking you put it down and pick up another one that might be. You don't make it your top priority in life to destroy the author's reputation, do you? If these people were of a mind to they could probably make Mother Theresa and Gandhi sound like Hitler and Pol Pot. In kicking up such a stink, causing such a controversy, surely all they've done is attract people to my book? - Make people who had no intention of reading it before want to find out the truth for themselves? That's what curious, intelligent, open-minded people do. Or at least I've always believed so.
I'm more than happy to admit now that pages 29-32 of my book (which are the 4 pages the haters keep rubbing your noses in on here,) are largely superfluous and off-putting, that I should have been more brutal in my self-editing and I should have allowed somebody to talk me into compromising my message, buy hey! I didn't, and it's too late for me to do anything about it now.
If you find the 2nd piece in my book, "Mocha Chocolata Ya-Ya (with a Certain Girl)", difficult to contend with at this juncture....and I'm sure a lot of you will....all you have to do is skip it. That whole piece is only EIGHT PAGES LONG. Don't let it spoil your enjoyment of what I still believe is a great book. There is nothing remotely like it in my entire canon. It's unique, and it serves a unique purpose that will be revealed if you stick around long enough.
As far as this site is concerned, I'm dead now. I'm not coming back. The haters can take over, wave their flags triumphantly, pull the wool over your eyes if they can, but I will not be here to witness it. I'll be off grid somewhere, living my life and thinking some very pleasant thoughts.
I discovered a few days ago that Sylvia Plath, the American poet who took her own life in 1963, has over 15,000 followers on Goodreads. God willing, perhaps one day I will too.
As always, I wish all you genuine book lovers well. I am not letting the haters win here. I am simply walking away from the battlefield because I have lost all respect for and interest in an enemy who is not worthy of me.
Goodbye!
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